Address to the Mayor, Corporation and Citizens of Alexandria, April 16, 1789

Selected images from the Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

Address to the Mayor, Corporation and Citizens of Alexandria, April 16, 1789

George Washington made this emotional speech to the citizens of his hometown, Alexandria, Virginia, at the start of his triumphant tour to New York and the presidency of the nascent United States on April 16, 1789. Washington expressed his regret at leaving Mount Vernon and asked for the "protection of that beneficent Being" as he and the nation embarked on their new course. This letterbook copy is the only historical manuscript of this address to survive.

See Letterbook 38, image 2, for additional images and a transcription of this speech.